Mission

Mission: To respond thoughtfully and responsibly to my experiences of drinking and dining at restaurants with regard to the quality, service, preparation, presentation and overall experience received thereat. The standpoint is one who respects the crafts of the chef and sommelier and who seeks to understand their choices in the kitchen and cellar and grow in knowledge. In this, I will seek to be fair, reasoned, direct and constructive and aim to keep my ego in check on our mutual journeys through the worlds of food and wine.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Malbec Food and Wine Cava April 17th 2011

April 17th

This was grim. Thomas from Entwine, from whom we'd previously had some lovely wines, organised a Malbec Food and Wine session at Cava. Presumably aiming to pair Spanish style food with the wines, it was pretty bad. Apart from the Torrontes aperitif and opening wine, the rest were highly alcoholic - 14 to 15 plus. The food at Cava seems to have gone steadily downhill over recent time. The starter Tapas Platter was a bit cold and forgettable with the salad oil hinting of rancid, whilst the Paella Las Verduras that followed was also cold and a bit smoky. The Cod with Romesco Sauce redeemed the night and apparently the oxtail was good. The cheese platter was a bit… cheesy in presentation - a Ritz cracker with a slab of best imported Jamon felt like not the best way to end the evening. The garlic bread remained the table favourite. The matching was way off beam, though - heavy wines need heavy food, and these boys were very muscular and tannic and not really pleasant to drink. The labes were all new to me. Also not sure if there is much to improve over time - the tannins overpower everything and not sure there will be enough fruit to even them out. I have tasted many delightful Malbecs full of fruit and fire and texture, a lot of them coming from the supermarkets, but these were way below the par one would expect. Good to give a rugby team hairs on the chest at half time, or doing battle with half a cow slab after twenty minutes on the paradilla in Buenos Aires, but not really suited for the KL clime nor the below par cuisine. I took no notes on the wines. Not for buying.

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